Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, and Design

By:
Colin Martin

In the broad sweep of Renaissance intellectual curiosity, few if any thinkers wielded their cerebral brooms through as many rooms or compartments of human endeavour as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). His painting of an enigmatic young woman, celebrated for centuries, now arguably depicts the most recognised half smile in the world. Many of his drawings, such as the naked man inscribed in a circle, are universally recognised as being his work and have become icons representing our human quest for a rational understanding of how we and our world work.

Drawn solely from British collections, this exhibition of 62 drawings by Leonardo shows his insatiable curiosity and how he explored and developed ideas, using pen and paper to try to fathom the underlying mechanisms of how animals and machines function, rather than simply recording their external appearance. They are primarily dynamic sketches, drawn quickly to capture and investigate animal movement